Agent Coulson and Loki's Daughter
by ChandaK562
Summary: After the events of the Avengers, Agent Coulson awakens to find himself in Hel, in the custody of Loki's daughter.
1. Chapter 1

He wasn't in the medical wing on the helicarrier. That was the first thing that Agent Phil Coulson noticed as he came back to consciousness he wasn't sure how long after Loki's attack. His senses immediately went on high alert. Not a hospital either, he realized after a moment, the bed he could feel beneath him much too soft, the cover tucked over him some sort of fur. He slowly opened his eyes a fraction, hopefully enough for him to fool any observers.

No, definitely not a hospital or any other medical facility that he knew of. The bed was large, of some sort of carved wood, thick pillows filled with down tucked beneath his head. There was a fireplace large enough for a man to stand up in without bumping his head across from the bed, a fire roaring. What in the world was going on? This didn't look like the prison he had expected once he realized he wasn't in a hospital. Had Fury decided that he needed a vacation after what had happened, and had put Stark in charge of his accommodations?

Just then he detected movement. He risked twitching his head a bit to see better. There was a bench by the fire, heaped with more pillows, and there was a girl sitting there. He didn't think she could be older than thirteen, a long green tunic over skirts of the same color, black hair pulled back with something that looked almost like bone. A basket was sitting beside her, a piece of cloth that she was sewing on her lap. What in the world was going on here?

Before he had time to think about it more, to work out some sort of plan, the girl looked up, and then moving faster than he thought possible, she was at his bedside.

"Good day, my lord. I am Leah." she said, her speech somehow bringing Thor's to mind. "My mistress bids you welcome. If there is anything you wish, but name it and it will be done."

He slowly sat up. His suit, he was in his suit. Would they have sent him on vacation in his suit? Or put him to bed in his suit? At least it wasn't one of those flimsy hospital gowns though. With one of those one, he wouldn't have dared get out of bed in front of a child. "Where am I?"

"Hel, my lord." Leah told him.

"Hell?" He had gone to hell? "Budapest. It was Budapest, wasn't it? I always thought that was a little iffy, but I never suspected it was a mortal sin." Hell, just perfect. And what had happened to the Avengers while he was on a trip downstairs courtesy of Nick Fury's assignments? Had they stopped Loki? He didn't have time to go to hell. Who knows what trouble Stark had caused while he was gone.

"What is a Budapest, my lord?" Leah asked as Coulson stood and looked around the room, located the door and headed towards it. "Good sir, you should return to bed. I do believe the fever is upon you, although I do not know how that is possible. Perhaps rest will bring you to your senses."

As he crossed the room, Coulson caught sight of the girl's sewing. Was that an embroidery of Stark? Just more proof he was in hell.

"My lord, please!" Leah opened the door right after Coulson walked through and hurried down the hall after him at a run. "My mistress will be here in but a moment. I'm sure she can aid you with whatever you desire, if you will return to your bed!"

"What I need is to get back to work." Surely Fury would let him remain on the helicarrier. He wouldn't have to pay a ghost. That would be a plus. As he thought, Phil drifted through another door, and suddenly stopped short.

There were candles everywhere, on tables and benches, and floating in mid-air. And in the center of the room was what looked like a glass coffin. And inside…. What in the world was going on? He was inside the coffin, eyes closed, hands tucked at his side, his best suit on. "I didn't know they brought your body along when you went to hell." Phil murmured as he took a step back. but couldn't bring himself to turn his eyes away from the sight in front of him.

"I'm afraid you've made an error, good sir." A voice behind him said. "This is Hel, with one L. I am Hela, and I bid you a most gracious welcome to my home."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hela?" Coulson said as he turned to find a woman standing behind him, watching him with concern in her eyes, the girl Leah standing just behind her. Hela, wasn't that…. But she didn't match what he had read from Norse myth. She was tall and clothed in green like her maid, the long skirts skimming the floor, bell shaped sleeves with gold embroidery that matched the belt about her waist, long, golden hair falling in waves almost to her waist. "Hela? Loki's…."

"Loki's daughter." Hela said with a wince. "I do wish to offer my most humble apologies on the behalf of myself and my brothers, for the harm my father has amused himself wrecking throughout Midgard. Leah, could you go and help Fenrir and Jormangandr in the library, please? I'll tend Agent Coulson myself."

"The book's still missing?" Leah asked.

"I'm starting to fear Father cast a spell to make it sprout legs and walk off. Agent Coulson?" Hela approached him as Leah left the room. He was standing by the glass coffin, looking down at his body. "You do have my apologies for my father causing your death."

"The Avengers? Do you know what happened to them? Did they…." He didn't know why he was feeling the way he was. He had walked through two doors and had his body right in front of him. That was pretty solid proof he was dead, but to hear someone actually say it was a totally different matter.

"My Lord Uncle Thor has sung of nothing but their great victory and your noble death since his return from Midgard." Hela reassured him. "if you ventured to Asgard, untold numbers of maidens who have heard your tale would surely fall at your feet."

"We won. Good. That's good." That was what he had wanted. That was what he had been willing to sacrifice himself for. Not to be there for it, though…. And girls would fling themselves at him because of how he died? Something wasn't right about that. "So, what now? I'm new to this death thing. Any chance I could go and haunt Stark?"

"Death. Yes, about that." Hela gently touched the glass coffin as she spoke. "My father struck you a mortal blow. That gave me a claim to your soul and allowed me to draw it here, a mere moment before your body breathed its last."

"Okay, so does that mean haunting Stark's out then?"

"It means your death was improper. The soul must leave only after the body is dead, and not a moment before. By claiming you before this, I broke that rule. You died, but not in the manner mortals must go. Thus, your death can be changed."

"Changed?" Coulson looked at her not sure he had heard right, not wanting to hope that he had understood what she had told him. "Do you mean…."

"I have little power to make amends for the damage my father has done to your realm, but this is in my power." Hela said. "Pulling your soul to me took but a moment. Although it took longer than expected, my brother's pups were able to find and retrieve your body."

"Pups?"

"I believe they're called werewolves upon Midgard. Anna and Christiana, two of the descendants of Fenrir and his mate." Hela winced again. "Good girls, the both of them, although I am afraid they quite terrified several funeral homes before they managed to locate you. Mortals do seem to take it badly when wolves break in their doors for some reason."

"That might be due to Little Red Riding Hood. So, am I dead or…." Phil moved to the coffin and made himself look inside. He looked dead, but maybe, was he breathing, just a bit?

"Your body's very much alive. Once the pups were able to send it to me, it was a simple matter to repair the damage my father caused." Hela told him. "And, of course, your soul is unharmed."

"Okay." Not dead. This was sounding like he wasn't dead. And how long had he been not quite dead? He was entitled to leave for deaths in the family. Did his own almost death count for that, or was this going to be coming out of his sick time? "So, why am I standing here, and my body's under glass?"

"That's the small problem we've ran into. I had hoped you would sleep longer. Most souls suffering a fraction of what you have would have taken weeks or months to awaken properly. You seem to be a most exceptional man, Son of Coul." Hela offered a slight smile as she looked up.

"I babysit superheroes and Shield agents. You have to be up to speed if you're doing that. So, what's the problem?"

"The spell to rejoin your spirit with your body, I'm afraid that the book it's in has gone missing." Hela told him.

"And you have to have this book? You can't just…."

"I'm a goddess of death. I remove souls from bodies. Putting a soul back isn't something I do every day. I definitely need the book, I'm afraid." Hela told him. My brothers and I have been searching the library most diligently for nigh on two days now without a sign of it."

"Two days?"

"I do have a number of books, I'm afraid."

"Okay, so how long can my body last like that before…." Coulson waved his hand in the direction of the glass. Should he ask Hela to return his body to Shield until her missing book was found? Surely they would be able to do something, or Stark could think up something, to make sure he stayed alive until Hela could put things right.

"I promise you, my spells will not fail. Your body will sleep unharmed until you can be restored." Hela reassured him. "Would you like to see the library? Perhaps you might spy something my brothers and I have missed."

Even though part of him didn't think leaving his body was the best idea, Phil let Hela lead him away and down what felt like a maze of stone corridors. His footsteps made no noise, but Hela's were a soft pat-pat as slippers hidden by her gown skimmed the floor.

"So this is your library." Coulson said as Hela through open the door at the end of another corridor, and the pair stepped into a room filled with books, covering every wall and reaching up as far as the eye could see. Leah was digging through a pile of books on a table, while a giant wolf sniffed around the lower shelves. And was that a snake slithering along the upper rows of books? Well, it was a good thing he had never used any of his sick time. "So, where do you want me to start looking?


End file.
